Adjustable frame for automobile-tops



G.-R. DUBBINS. ADJUSTABLE FRAME FOR AUTOMOBILE TOPS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 3.19l8.

Patented Mar. 16, 1920.

mm I ornicn GEORGE E. DOBBINS, LQS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR' OF ONE-TENTH TO WILLIAM FQSCHANBACHER, 0F ANGELES, CALIFGRNIA, QNE-TEVENTIETH H3O LEONARD KILL AND ONET' .VENTIETH TG.JDSEPH'Ha GGSLIHG, BETH OF SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA, AND TWELVE AND (ENE-HALF BER CENT. TO ROY BIDDLECOM, 0F FRESNO, CALIFORNIA. i

AnJUs'nABLn FRAME FOR nuronoernn-rors.

Application niea .Tnly 3, 1918. Serial 1Y9. g aoea To all whom it may concern:

it, known that I, GEO GE E. DOBBINS,

a citizienlo r" the United States, residing at LesAngelesfln the county of Los An-geles and 'Stafteof California, have invented a new and'useful Adjustable Frame for Autoingbile-Topsyot which the following is a specification.

This inventionpertains to folding frames vertical bows so as to eliminate onefot' the vertical bows, thus to produce neater appearing tops.

Another object is to produce a top frame whiclrcanbe readily adjusted to fit various sizes ofautomobiles.

Other objects and f advantages will appear in the subjoined detaileddescription.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. i Figure l is a longitudinal mid section of the invention. v 1

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail of one of the frame jointsshownin Fig. 1. I

Fig.3 is a reduced elevation transversely of the frame partly in section on line indi- Gated 0c 00 Fig.1. g 1 Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the arm sections. 3 I i Fig. ,5 is a perspective view of the connection member;

Fig. 6 isaperspective view of the forward portion oiithe other section of the arm.

A fragment of the vehicle body is shown at 1 and pivoted thereto at? are bows '3 and 4;, the how 3 being; in vertical position when the top is up andthe bow at extending asl ant rearward and upward; From-the nature of tl e'view,-Fig. 1, only one of the pivots 2 is shown and only one-half of each bow is shown. The'bows 3 and 4; are of the usual Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dial-16,1920.

inverted U-shape construction and are similar to those employed on many automobiles. Only oneside of the frame is shown in Fig. 1 because of the nature of the view.

The how 3 is provided with ears 5. which embrace the rear end of an arm 6 that may be'composed of one or more devices and, in

this instance, is formed of two sections or members, there being a removable pin in the form of a bolt 7 inserted through the ears andarm to detachably connect the arm and how 3 to one another. provided with a wing-nut 7. The rear. sec- The bolt 7 is tion of the arm 6 is provided with a series of holes 8 arranged at intervals longitudi nally thereof near its forward end so that it may be adjustably fastened by a bolt 9 to the forward section 1.0 of the arm 6, the

bolt passing through a hole 12 'inthe forward section 10 and through anotch 13 in an attaching member 11. Onthebolt 9 is a wing-nut 14 and it is clear thatwhen the wing-nut 1 1 is loosened thearmG may be readily detached from the attaching member 11 The attaching member 11 is riveted 'or otherwise fastened at 15 to a U-shaped 7 how 16. The how, 16, if desired maybe formed by merely cutting off the end por- 'tions, indicated in dotted. lines a, ofthe for ward vertical'bow ordinarily furnished with some types of automoblle tops.

The member 11 is provided at its forward end with a laterally projecting abutment formed by an car 17 which is adapted to engage the upper edge of an offset portion 18 of the arm 6. The forward end of the offset portion 18 is provided with a laterally projecting abutment formed by anear 195 preferably curved to fit the top and sides of a U-shaped horizontal bow 20. The bow 20 'may correspond with the usual horizontal bow found in some types of automobile tops, said bow as originally furnished on said automobiles being indicated in dotted lines 6, Fig. 1. The bow 20is provided at its'rear end with a laterally projecting stud 21 passing through a hole or eye 22 in the arm 6. The hole 22 passes through anofiset portion 25 of the member 10 and the forward end of From the foregoing it is readily seen that" the members 10, 11, boltr9 and wing nut 14;

constitute connection means between the how.

16 and bow 20, that such connection means are provided with the eye to receive the stud 21, and that the screws 15 serve to fas ten'the connection means to the bow 16. These 1- connection means may be otherwise constructed than shown and described above, and itis. clear that the eye 25, stud 21 and abutment or ear 26 are essential to functioning of the device.

The frame constituted as above described is adapted to support a cover 27 which extends over the intermediate portions of the bows 3, 1, 16 and 20. The cover 27 may .be made of any suitable material and isfastened by any of the usual means to the bows.

, In practice, when the top .is in the un folded posit on the parts are as shown in 1. Tocollapse the top the operator will detach the'top from the front support 28in theusual manner and he will unscrew the wing-nuts 7 at both sides of the frame and remove the bolts 7. 2 He will then unscrew the wing-nutsla and move the members 11 laterally sufiieiently far to movethe ears 1'? out of engagement with the upper edges of the arms 6. When this is done the rear ends of the arms 6 swing downward aboutthe axes of the studs'21 so as to raise the ears 19,-26 from engagement with the how 20. Whenthe operator will move the forward sections 10 upwardsufficiently far to withdraw them fronrengagement with the studs 21, thus detaching the arms 6 and members 10,11 from the remainder of the frame parts so that the arm 6 and said members can be stored away until it is desired to open or unfold the top. Then the operator will move the how 20 rearward and engage the studs 21with eyes 29 on the end portions of the bow 3. Then he will swing the bow-'20 rearward against or close to the how 3 and he will continue tomove the how 20 rear ward and with it the bow 3 until said .bows are close to the bow 1. Hewill then swlng 7 all of the bows together rearward and downward to bring the top into the folded position, as is readily understood.

It is to be noted that by cutting ofi the forward vertical bow of existing automobile top frames and-fastening thereto the members '11 and that by fastening the ears 5 to the bow '3 the existing top frames of many types of automobiles may readily, be converted into my Iimproved top frame which is devoid of any support between the' bow 3 and front supports 28.

lVhile I have illustrated in my drawings and explained a preferred form of'the em- 7 bodiment of-my invention, this form is of course a mere specific construction. ,There are numerous specific constructions of my inventionwhich might be substituted for the preferred form illustrated and I do not int nd tolimitthe scope ofmy invention to the preferredform referred to, and in fact, generically, my invention is; of the breath and scope set forth in the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. An adjustable frame for automobile tops comprising a bow adapted to be pivoted to the top of an automobile, a second bow, arms detachably connected with the first named bow and provided with laterally projecting ears respectively, attaching members connected to each of the arms and provided with laterally projecting ears, theattach- .ing members being fastened to the second bow and the ear of each of said attaching members being adapted toengage the top of the associated arm, and a third bow havinga stud passing through each of the arms,

the ears of the arms being adapted to engage the top of the third bow.

2. A11 ad'ustable frame for automobile tops comprising a bow adapted to be pivoted to. the top of an automobile, a second bow, arms detachably connected with the first named bow and provided with laterally projecting ears respectively, attaching members provided with ears, means adjustably con-, necting the attaching members to the arms respectively, the attaching members being fastened to the second bow and an ear of 7 each of said attaching members being adapted to engage the top of the associated arm, and a third bow having a stud passing through each of the arms, the ears of the arms being adapted to engage the top of the third bow.

Aframe for automobile tops, comprising a rear vertical how, a forward vertical bow of less height than the rear vertical how, a horizontal bow, horizontal arms, means connecting the rear endsof said arms to the rear vertical bow, means connecting the said arms intermediate of their ends to the said forward vertical bows, and laterally projecting ears formed on said arms adapted to engage the upper surface of saidrhori'zontal bows. 1 s 4. In aframe forautomobile tops, the combination with a rear vertical bow and ahorizontal bow, of horizontal arms secured to said rear vertical bow and provided with laterally projecting earslengaging the upper face of said horizontal bow.

In Combination, an arm adapted to be connected to a rear vertical bow of an auton1ob1le top and having means at lts forward end to engage the upper face of a horizontal how of said top, said arm having an orifice adapted to receive a stud on the horizontal bow, and an element adapted to be secured to a forward vertical bow of the top and coiiperatin with the arm to support the horizontal 0W. 7

Signed at Los Angeles California, this 27th day of June, 1918. GEORGE R'DOBBINS. Witnesses: V V I GEORGE H. HILEs, L. BELLE WEAVER. 

